My order from CC (pre-order 11/17) arrived in two pieces -- Friday for the extra controller and today for the console. Timing is fine because they are a present for my kids. I just feel better knowing I have them safe and sound in my house. I can't wait to give this to my two boys (7 and 10) and can't wait to play too. The reviews are almost uniformly positive. The only negatives I've read seem to be from gaming purists. NY times review yesterday was absolutely glowing.

Only problem with CC shipping was the way the console was packed. It was placed diagonally in the box with the plastic airbag package things only on one side. There was some wiggle room for the box. It should have been placed in a larger box with the airbags or peanuts all around it so it was tight inside the packing material. It should not move at all when the packing box moves. I'm not taking any chances. I am calling CC tomorrow and demand that they overnight me a new console with a prepaid return packing slip to send back the original. I have never received any electronic good so poorly packed. Even my surge protectors are packed better than this. If need be I will elevate this up the corporate ladder until I get satisfaction. The last thing I need is to have the kids unwrap their present and have it not work. Am I being unreasonable?

Update:

Through my usual detective means, I got transferred to the secretary of CC's vice president for retail operations. My case got taken up by senior escalation services. The agent was out yesterday so I called my contact back and she promised action by the end of the day. I got a voicemail message from her and the district manager in charge of my local store. They are expecting a shipment by this weekend and will set aside a unit for me. I just need to come to the store and swap out the unit I received with the unit they set aside for me. Both my contact in corporate and the district manager were as nice as could be. Also, the managers of the local store said they would be willing to help me out if corporate could not. CC did right by me. In general, I found my local store to be very helpful. As an example, when they installed my XM radio, they needed to correct their work. They did it with a smile at my convenience and got it right. Best Buy is a half mile down the road. They know they have competition and act accordingly.

Doesn't mean they all work. When I attempted to connect via WPA-PSA (TKIP), I got an error code, yet the Wii identified all three routers in my area. It was a long distance connection (2 rooms). I wish they would show signal bars for network connections. Can't debug this further until xmas. The gift is wrapped up. I suck at baseball and tennis. Got bored in 1 hour. Time to move on to real work, the paying kind.

Online play is planned, Nintendo has not announced the launch date of the service. The system launched without developers having recieved the tools in enough time to provide online play...the following is from wikipedia's WiiConnect24 page:

Quote:

Confirmed Titles
The following are titles whose developers have confirmed the existence of features to take advantage of WiiConnect24:

Elebits [3]
Pokémon Battle Revolution [4]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[3]

[edit] Possible Titles
The following are titles whose developers have expressed interest in implementing features to take advantage of WiiConnect24:

Third-party developers have not yet been provided the tools necessary for online play to be worked into their games. This means that, at least until 2007, no third-party games will feature online functionality.

Thanks Naylia. So if i had to guess, they won't have online gaming for a while still. I kinda wonder if they will charge extra for online or add-ons ot the machine or if you just by a game and voila, you're good to go.

Got mine ! plugged into my Westinghouse 47" 1080p and... first time I powered it up, it had noisy pink lines across the screen for a while, I got afraid I got a broken unit, but eventually and after pressing reset a few time, I finally got the wii screen ! but it does look a bit washed out and definitively fuzy with wigly lines... I'm still using composite because my component cables arrived at ups near my home but won't be delivered until monday :-(

So first impression was a bit disapointing ... Is there a way to calibrate the TV for the wii ? (like the thx optimizer or a simple gray scale to adjust brightness/contrast ?)

But then I put in wii sports and... what a blast ! immediate success with my kids... specially tenis ! (we started with bowling then golf (a bit too hard for 6-8y) but tenis was great, and making Miis was cool too)

Random: When I setup wireless network, I had to go through 2 system updates (why can't they do 1 update to the latest ?) and it still doesn't have access to the forecast or news channels

Thanks Naylia. So if i had to guess, they won't have online gaming for a while still. I kinda wonder if they will charge extra for online or add-ons ot the machine or if you just by a game and voila, you're good to go.

Should just be good to go, i remember seeing an interview where Nintendo said that the policy would be the same as the DS...always free, but we'll see.

Can't find any Wii's (or is it just Wii plural too?) in C-bus yet. But I do want to clarify a question I asked earlier and add another one.

1) I realize that the classic remote is needed for legacy games (downloaded or Gamecube), however, can the Wii-only games be played with the classic remote too? I'm just guessing that Madden football for instance may be easier with a classic remote.

2) Does the classic remote come in a wireless version as well?

3) Finally, I remember hearing a rumor that Nintendo may be able to upgrade the Wii to play DVDs via firmware? Any truth to this?

Any more information on how well the Wii plays classic NES games (Metroid, Gradius, etc.)? Do you need a non-Wii controller for them? Thx.

I don't think the specific games you mentioned are available yet. However I just got the original Legend of Zelda (NES), and it plays just fine with the Wiimote, however I'm going to buy the "Classic" controller when I can find it in stock somewhere.

I hooked it up directly to my Samsung 4695 via composite that was provided. I'm not sure why but I couldn't hook it up with my Onkyo HTS 894 system. Still trying to figure out what I was doing wrong heh.

Anyway, the games look great on Samsun 46 inch. I love the new controller style but as others have stated, controlling gets tricky when you get to the edges of your widescreen TV's.

You can actually play Metroid (NES) already if you own Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion. Of course, you have to unlock it by beating Metroid Fusion (GBA) and hooking up the GBA to GC/Wii via the gamelink cable. Fortunately I've already done that; once it's unlocked you can always play it if you keep the memory card used w/ MP.

As far as accessories, Target had a bunch of remotes yesterday; I walked in at 5 PM and grabbed 2.

You bought 2? Wow... I'd sure like to buy one, because I do have a GameCube game but no working GameCube, Super Smash Bros Melee, and I heard Wii can play it. Wii seems to be able to host a greater variety of games, this motion sensor adds a new component, so it's not just your fingers anymore.

In fact, if you strapped a weight to your Wii-arm then it could build muscle!

A buddy's of mine buddy, pitched a perfect curve ball right into his 40" Sammy LCD. Believe it or not, the wii-mote did not break, but the TV got a huge crack going all the way down the middle. Very upsetting to say the least. They are splitting the cost of a replacement....

My boys opened their gift Friday night. They were totally jazzed. I think it was the best surprise they ever got. Took me about 20 minutes to get it setup. Most have that time was getting the plastic wrapping off the cables. Having them in the room watching over me was not helpful.

They each created a Mii. That alone was entertaining. Then they were ready to start Wii Sports. The only confusing things is that sometimes, inexplicably, the wii mote that has control of the menu switches. Also had some intial issues with syncing but got it all worked out pretty quickly and the games began.

So far bowling is the biggest hit. Second place is tennis. Third is baseball. I have to admit, I tried baseball. For me, it was not easy but then again I was never a very good hitter. My seven year old seems to be the best, but he's good a making contact in the real deal. While I was not in the room, they tried golf and said it was very hard. They want to try boxing but I have to plug in the nonchucks so that is still waiting.

Saturday, I got the internet connection setup. I had to assign a static IP. After that, the console downloaded and installed to the two updates. Am I right in assuming that other than that, nothing on line is active yet?

They are thoroughly enjoying themselves. They made a do not cross line of shows about six feet from the set. My older son was a bit out of control and got too close to the set so we set up the do not cross line. My seven year old has been a pool of sweat.

They also love creating Mii's. We now have about 10. They even made mii's of their teachers. My wife is the only one who has created a Wii yet. I don't think my wife has played a video game since pac man. Certainly not since I've known her and we met in 1983. She had a blast playing tennis.

This week they will get Excite Truck and Rabbids. I may get Madden for myself.

So far this has been a huge success. The only problem is tearing them away from this. Definitely the best play thing they have every gotten and not too shabby for the adults either.

Saturday, I got the internet connection setup. I had to assign a static IP. After that, the console downloaded and installed to the two updates. Am I right in assuming that other than that, nothing on line is active yet?

Virtual console is open for business, and you can add friends to your address book, send them Miis, and see their Miis in the Mii parade.

I gotta admit...this thing is the most fun I've had since playing the Odyssey 300 my father bought us in '76.

The bowling is fantastic. Tennis is fun. Boxing is nice too; can somebody make a Karate trainer for this soon?? My son and wife love Zelda; I'll try CoD3 once they're off to bed. Let's see how I get into that, instead of a mouse and keyboard.

No probs w/wireless internet; once I addressed the MAC filtering in my router it was fine.

Picture is too soft w/composite (damn them for no component included, and they're in short supply) and the lack of Toslink for DD is inexcusible- particulary when the audio is 'fixed' onto the video cable- but overall I am very pleased.

Wii opened ours (my son's actually) and it is an immediate winner... all of the bundled games can be played by any family member. Excite Truck was a good use of the remote as a 'driver' experience, and my son seems to love Zelda. We have Madden coming but it did not arrive yet.

I ordered the component cable direct from Nintendo & it arrived well before today so that we could take advantage of the better video. I also found it very disturbing, however, that the component cable audio is 'fixed' to the video until the last foot. I have a projector for the video that the cable connects to & there's just no way to get the audio over to my receiver without purchasing a female-to-male converter and extending cable back to the receiver -- it's really an unnecessary expense... if they simply kept the cabling separate, then I could strip it apart myself, as I have for many other electronics over the years.

The Wii is undoubtedly the most successful gift that we have ever bought. That's all our boys want to do. And to be honest, I wish I had less to do around the house so I could join them more often (surprise surprise).

They love Wii Sports. Not surprising, the sports they like the most are the ones they are best at. My 10 year old is hand eye challenged so he likes bowling best. He destroyed me in one game with a 201. He won a Turkey with 3 strikes in a row. My seven year old had the best hand eye coordination in the family and is smoking everybody in baseball. I definitely need to throw some more splitters and screwballs to throw off his timing. He also plays a mean game of tennis. My wife likes tennis the most. My 10 year old schmiced me in boxing scoring a first round knock out. I don't think I have the hang of that. We are all still getting the feel for golf. I will post separately with a golf question and video lag. The kids make do not cross line about 6 feet from the set because they tend to get a bit out of control, especially in tennis and I don't want them accidentally hitting the TV.

Excite Truck is also a big winner. It is totally zany and gets the adrenaline pumping. I need to put some MP3's on an SD card (I think I have an extra floating around the house) because I am not a big metal fan so the music is a downside for me. The kids don't mind so much. I am hoping that Rayman arrives today. It's their last present. I ordered for my mom (I'm her online purchasing agent). I had to cancel my original order and place a new order. It was shipped last Wed. From the reviews I've read, I think the kids will totally love it.

One of the biggest surprises has been Mii creation. Everybody is getting into it. I think we have about 15 Mii's at this point including some very unflattering political caricatures (I won't reveal names because I want to remain non partisan).

I am displaying the Wii on a Sony 46E2000 rear projection LCD via Nintendo component cables. Both the video and audio are fine. The only issue is artifacts in Wii golf as the picture pans but it's no biggy and nobody in the family has noticed.

I still can't believe how lucky I was to score one of these when CC had it online for preorder on 11/17. For those who were not as lucky, I would advise being patient and waiting. An article on PC Mag online ways that the Wii shortage may last until March. Given the fun we've had and will have for years to come, it will be worth the wait.